Report Includes Caveats

The CBO report provided these caveats regarding its findings: “Although pay comparisons can provide useful information, the data that underlie CBO’s analysis have limitations that caution against generalizing the results. For example, the data do not represent a random selection of nonprofit firms. Forming a full picture of how federal pay compares with other pay requires data from a range of nonprofit jobs and firms that is sufficient to mirror the range of jobs and levels of responsibility held by federal executives. Even with more extensive data, however, pay comparisons alone may not indicate the competitiveness of salaries for federal executives. If the government is attracting and retaining the top executives it needs, then federal pay may be competitive regardless of how it stacks up against other organizations’ compensation.” It added that “even the largest nonprofit firms have operations much smaller than those of many federal agencies. Also, the nonprofit positions may not be appropriate comparisons for many federal executives with different jobs. Even for positions with similar titles, duties and responsibilities may vary widely among federal agencies and between government and private organizations.” Go to https://www.fedweek.com/HotFreeNews/showpage1.asp?title=8/27/03 to read full report.